Staple having a closed loop and method of making the same



Nov. 21, 1950 L B COOK 2,530,811

STAPLE HAVING :A CLOSEDLOOP AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed June 15. 1945 /6 l6 /6 l6 /6 /6 M ,5

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. Z 1 wyzn/m? W/TA/FSS: A mm r y lm M W Patented Nov. 21, 1950 STAPLE HAVING A CLOSED LOOP AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Lyman B. Cook, Haddon Township, Camden County, N assignor to Acme Staple Company, Camden, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 15, 1945,,Serial No. 599,661

1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improvement in staples, which, after being driven, are provided with a closed ring or loop for the reception of a wire or other similar member, and method of forming the same.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of staples which are adapted when clinched to the walls of a fibre tube or sheet to form terminal lugs on insulators, such as are used in radio sets.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a staple which is adapted to support various articles and which is provided with a closed loop forthe reception of a suspending wire or the like and connecting prongs adapted to be driven into or clinched through the article.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a staple which is provided with a closed supporting loop formed before being placed in a stapling machine for driving the staple.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a staple having a closed loop after being driven and in which the loop is only partially formed before being driven and which is completed during the driving of the staple.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partially in section. of an insulator tube, to which a staple has been clinched adjacent each end thereof, together with a portion of a clinching anvil within the tube.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a face view of a staple, before clinching, on a larger scale than that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, together with the driver, in substantially driving relation with the staple.

Fig. 4 is a face view of a staple such as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in which the loop has been formed on the staple before being driven.

88. 5 and 6 are face views of other forms of staples; and

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view showing a staple driven into a picture or like frame to provide a loop for a suspending means.

Referring to Fig. l in which I have illustrated an insulator tube III, with a; staple clinched to the wall of the tube adiacentieach end of the tube, the staples comprise a .clo'sed loop or ring I II having oppositely extending portions I2, I2,

substantially in engagement'with each other to form a closed loop for receptionof terminal wires which are then soldered to the loops.

The staples illustrated in Fig. 1 before clinching were of the form shown in Fig. 3, in which the legs beyond the semi-circular connecting member I4 extend parallel to each other and are relatively close to each other as indicated at I6, I6, then diverge as at I8, I8 to relatively widely spaced parallel'portions 20, 20, the latter portions of which are driven through the wall of a tube such as III, between an anvil 22 and a driver 24, illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively.

The machine for clinching the staples to a tube, for example, has means whereby the staples are fed under the driver in a step-bystep movement in the usual way, while the tube is slipped on the anvil 22 to the proper position, after which the driver is forced down to clinch the ends 20, 20 and to depress the portions I8, I8 on the outer face of the tube III, as shown in Fig. 1.

The diverging connecting portions I8, I8 must be of sufficient length, so that when the staples have been clinched a closed loop I I will be formed by the portions I6, I6, which are substantially brought into contact with each other at the, junctions of the portions I8, I 8 and I6, I6, i. e., the combined lengths of the portions I8, I8 must be equal to the space between the ends 20, 20.

After the staples have been clinched to the tube, the axes of the loops extend substantially at right angles to the axis of the tube, while the clinched ends 20, '20 and the portions I2, I2 extend substantially parallel to the axis of the tube so the wall of the tube is clamped between portions I2, I2 and 20, 20 of the staples.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a staple, in which the loop II has been formed before clinching, which may beformed from a staple such as that shown in Fig. 3 and is adapted to be clinched into the position as shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a staple having a leg connecting member formed of diverging mem-' bers 26, 26, and in Fig. 6 the connecting member 28 is in the form of a straight bar normal to the upper portions of the legs. In Figs. 5

and 6 the same reference characters have been applied to the legs of the staples as applied to the legs in the other figures, as the members I8, I8 and 20, 20 will assume the same positions after clinching as shown in Fig. 1, the only difference being in the shape of the closed loop.

Referring to Fig. 7, the staple shown therein before driving may be of the form shown in either Figs. 3 or 4, and to which the same reference characters have been applied as in Fig. 1. When staples are to be used for supporting picture frames or articles of the type which are to be supported by a closed loop I I, the parallel porasaopu tions II, 20, or connecting prongs, which are driven into the frame 39, may be made somewhat longer than when clinched through a thin fibre tube such as shown in Fig. '1.

One of the advantages of my invention results from the provision of a staple which, when driven into or applied to an article, is provided with a closed loop, and which loop may be formed in a staple-forming machine, and the staples connected to each other in a string in the usual way, ready for insertion into a stapler; or the loop may be left open and the staples connected to each other in a string ready for insertion into a stapler. In the latter case, the closing of the loop will be done during the driving. The staples, having incompletely formed loops before driving, have several advantages over the completely formed staples as one operation of the forming machine can be dispensed with without increasing the cost of the stapler or increasing the parts thereof.

Another advantage of my invention results from the provision of a staple for the purpou described which can readily. be formed from a wire in a stitcher and then driven to form a closed loop.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

The method of attaching a staple to an article to provide a closed loop extending from the article with widely spaced prongs driven into the article when compared to the greatest width of the loop, with the intermediate portions between the prongs and the loop forming portions in contact with the article to which the staple is attached, comprising the forming of a staple having a cross bar, legs extending from the cross bar, the upper portions adjacent to the cross bar being parallel and relatively close to each other, widely spaced prongs at the ends of the legs parallel to each other and to the upper portions of the legs, and inclined intermediate portions extending in converging directions from the upper ends of the prongs to the lower ends of the upper portions the combined length of the intermediate portions being substantially equal to the distance between prongs and then driving the prongs into the article and during the driving drawing the Junctions between the intermediate portions and the upper portions of the legs into contact with each other to form the closed loop by the upper portions of the legs and cross bar of the staple and force the intermediate portions into contact with the article.

LYMAN B. COOK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 58,043 Ploughmann May 31, 1921 66,054 Stebbins June 25, 1867 249,851 McGill Nov. 22, 1881 340,578 Heysinger Apr. 27, 1886 558,418 Pitney et a1 Apr. 14, 1896 679,308 Geisenhoner July 30, 1901 800,170 Potter Sept. 26, 1905 1,830,084 Bjorndal Nov. 3, 1931 2,132,295 Hawkins Oct. 4, 1938 2,158,969 Oliver May 16. 1939 2,236,581 Schenclr Apr. 1, 1941 2,301,288 Knauf et al Nov. 10, 1942 2,390,219 La Place Dec. 4, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 21,372 England 1892 32,631 Denmark Dec. 6, 1923 426,014 France June 26, 1911 

